Branding is one aspect of business that many business owners do not understand or know how to capitalize on. Some don’t even see the need for it as they believe that a good product will sell itself. However, some businessmen who understand and wield the power of branding have made tremendous strides and impact in their industries, and one of such men is Samuel Onuha.
Samuel Onuha, a renowned business owner and expert in the Netherlands, has built a thriving career with branding as its foundation. When it comes to building a strong and impressive brand, Onuha hasn’t just done so for himself, he has also helped many other businesses in this wise by giving them practical tips and strategies to execute, to stand out in their industry.
Samuel Branding
According to Samuel, branding is one of the most important things you can do as a business owner. He further clarified that the concept of branding is not confined to the space of business alone. In his words, “As a person, you’re a brand yourself. Consciously or not, your identity is carved into the minds of others by what you do, how you act, how you position yourself, and how they feel about you.”
Samuel’s idea of branding is much more than just a product, but a lifestyle. He explained that people want to identify with a certain brand, not necessarily because of the product, but because of the feeling that comes with having it. For instance, countless shoe products serve the same purpose, but there’s a feeling of luxury and affluence that comes with wearing a designer shoe. So, even though they are more expensive, or maybe for that very reason, people are more attracted to them. With a logo, color, or emblem attached to the product, they identify with the brand and the feeling that comes with it.
What these designer brands have simply done is use their products to create a lifestyle that people want to associate themselves with, and naturally, they get the most customers and consequently monopolize the market. This is what branding can do for you.
Since people’s perception of you and your business is formed by some traits they observe, there is a need to intentionally influence these traits to give consumers a striking impression, and this is what branding is all about. Onuha, speaking on this subject, highlights the importance of branding to your business.
Brand Identification
Imagine people seeing a particular combination of colors, a logo or symbol, and easily identify it as your brand. Exactly, that’s the first thing you stand to gain by branding.
Brand Retention
A simple brand test would be to mention any industry and let consumers mention random brands that come to mind. Some brands will be mentioned more frequently than others, despite them all being in the same business or selling the same product. Building a strong brand helps you stay relevant and thriving in business. Particularly in a congested market with several brand options available to consumers, it no longer becomes a battle of product but of branding. When you focus on branding your business to consumers’ appeal, they remember your brand quickly when any subject in your industry is raised.
Brand Loyalty
In a competitive market, there are many similar quality products to yours that can as easily meet the need of consumers. Therefore, to make consumers keep coming back to you always takes much more than just making quality products. Making them loyal to your brand requires that you appeal to their personality, beliefs, and ideals, and you can only do this by branding. Sam explains this further by saying “You’ll only get returning customers if you both deliver a good product and create a brand around it.”
Brand Credibility
This is all about consumers trusting your business. Branding makes people not just aware of your presence, it makes them trust you as well. It helps build confidence in your business and assures them that you’re a credible brand they can trust and rely on. This would require a lot of work, professionalism, and time to build, but if you want to earn the trust of consumers, it’s a price you have to be willing to pay.
Brand Promotion
With branding, it becomes easier to promote your business. Also, promoting begins to yield more results. With a striking authentic identity and strong branding, putting your brand out there in consumers’ faces produces more impact.
In conclusion, Onuha’s branding secret is that sometimes the brand is more important than the product because people want to be part of a certain lifestyle. People want to buy something that resonates with them. If people resonate with what you put out there, they’ll want to be a part of it, and when that happens, the star becomes the limit for your business.
